Changing
by AHeartForStories
Summary: Hiccup has changed throughout the years since meeting Toothless, but nobody but the dragons really know how much. The changes are physical too. Post-RttE.


_I don't know how vague the summary is. So enjoy this one-shot!_

_Constructive criticism is highly appreciated!_

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**Changing**

"Hiccup, for the sake of Odin's beard, get up."

The exasperated voice of his father and a rough hand shaking his shoulder is what woke Hiccup up late that morning. It was almost in the afternoon.

Stoick stood by his son's bedside as Hiccup's head shot up from his pillow, still neck-deep within the covers. His eyes were firmly closed.

"What?" He asked sluggishly, barely able to open them and look up to his father. His hair was more of a mess than usual.

"It's late, son. You should've been up hours ago. Gobber's been waiting for you in the forge and Toothless already went and got breakfast for himself because you were taking so long. Now get up." Stoick replied curtly and pulled the blankets away before turning and leaving Hiccup with the unwelcome cold that usually hung around all day on Berk.

Hiccup released a sigh and dropped his head back down again, arms stubbornly taking hold of his pillow and curling up with the chill that now replaced his warmth.

"And it's time you went to bed earlier!" He heard his father call out to him as he descended the stairs with heavy footsteps befitting a mighty Chief.

"Hmm." Was Hiccup's simple response. No way Stoick heard him, but the man wasn't pressing for an answer it seemed. The front door closed, signaling that he'd left the house.

Finally managing to open his eyes after a little while longer, Hiccup noticed that the stone slab was indeed empty. Toothless had already left, just as his father had told him.

Sitting up against his will, he felt like he could do with a few more hours in bed, Hiccup couldn't help but groan and rub his neck due to the discomfort it brought him. At the same time he brought a hand up to shield himself from the sunshine as it came in through the window in the roof. The sun was already high in the sky, telling Hiccup how late it already was.

He was sore. He was so sore. In his neck, his back, his shoulders, his limbs... There wasn't a muscle in his body that didn't feel stiff and like he'd spend all of yesterday running from a stampede of dragons.

And his skin felt so itchy in certain spots too. It was maddening. On his back and neck especially.

He wondered absentmindedly whether he was getting sick or not. This wasn't the first late morning he woke up feeling this was, not the first morning he found that he was still tired either. He did go to sleep on time, or more so than he usually did when he and Toothless had their nightly flights, and yet, he felt so fatigued as of late.

And he felt kinda hot too. A little feverish.

Swinging his legs over the edge of his bed, he rubbed into his eyes and briefly combed with his fingers through his hair before retrieving his prosthetic. The haze over his mind was slowly dissipating. As it did, Hiccup noticed something small and black on his pillow from the corners of his eyes.

Looking over, brows furrowing, he noticed there were several of them. Tiny little specks scattered on his pillow and the furs he slept on.

Curiously picking one up, Hiccup found that the drop-like shape was familiar. Dragon scales. Toothless' scales. Except not nearly as big.

The haze over his mind cleared, but even so, Hiccup couldn't quite figure out where these could be coming from. Toothless sometimes dared to sneak into his bed at night, but he would've known. Unless his exhaustion was so bad he didn't even notice anymore.

Subconsciously, he rubbed over his neck again and wondered.

He wondered if he was imagining things.

Or if the back of his neck, covered by his hair, truly felt different than it did the day before.

A crooning drew his attention before he could think too much about the matter, followed by the snout of a Night Fury ruffling through his hair distractingly. Turning, Hiccup smiled when Toothless greeted him with a puff of warm fish breath.

"Good morning to you too, Bud." Hiccup coughed, attempting to escape the foul scent.

Another puff.

"Or afternoon."

While his Rider scratched his chin, Toothless decided to settle happily on Hiccup's bed. The piece of furniture creaked underneath his weight.

"And I'm also sorry it took me so long to get up, Bud. Don't know what's happening to me lately." Hiccup apologized and Toothless replied something that sounded almost suspiciously close to "excuses, excuses" before dropping his heavy head on the other's lap.

As a chuckle left him, Hiccup let his hand run over the head, neck and back of the Night Fury. Mind drifting back to the scales he found, he took one of them to compare with Toothless' and saw that there was a considerable difference in size between his black scales and the ones he'd mysteriously recovered from his bed.

Vaguely, a memory from his time on the Edge ran its course inside his head. The memory of a certain male Thorston who believed he was about to turn into a half-man/half-dragon after being bitten.

Hiccup felt like an idiot for even thinking about it. The last time he'd gotten a bite was from Sharpshot when he'd become a little too playful months ago. And no dragon bites had the power too... Maybe he really was getting a fever. His cheeks felt warm.

"Say, Bud..." Hiccup started and Toothless replied. He gave an eloquent "yeah?" so to speak.

"If something was going on. With me. You'd know and you'd tell me, right?" He asked and stroked the top of his Night Fury's head.

Toothless looked up to his Rider and grumbled. Hiccup could only make a disgruntled "yes, of course" out of that. As if the dragon was insulted by the mere notion that he wouldn't tell his Rider about something this important.

Well, he'd tell him in due time at least. When he was ready.

Hiccup huffed, smiling down at Toothless, who momentarily closed his eyes to enjoy his Viking's affections.

"Anyway, dad's right. I should probably get up." Hiccup decided and grabbed his prosthetic again, which had been left on the bed next to him after he made his strange discovery.

As Toothless pulled his head back, only briefly mourning the loss of the scratches and caresses, Hiccup strapped his metal leg on and then searched for the boot that was without a doubt haphazardly thrown away the night before.

"I should probably check up on Gobber and apologize to him too."

A disapproving grumble.

"Okay, first lunch and then I'll check up on and apologize to Gobber."

Toothless was much more satisfied with this plan. And Hiccup's stomach agreed, growling in protest.

Once the boot was found and subsequently put on, Hiccup left his room with Toothless following closely behind. While descending the stairs, dressed in only one layer of tunic as he felt simply too hot for a double one, Hiccup couldn't help but scratch at the back of his neck again and sigh in agitation. Maybe he should visit Gothi later that day. Just to be sure.

Risking his health by not going was one thing, but to live with this horrendously itchy feeling?

Toothless watched him silently and noticed the frail beginnings of tiny black specks under his hair.

He should tell him and soon. What was happening to him was inevitable. The sooner he knew, the sooner he could prepare himself.


End file.
